Children see father left close to death after cow attack

Paul Harris is used to taking risks. He rides a powerful motorbike and his job takes him to areas where he has to be wary of danger, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Johannesburg.

So when he took his two children cycling on the Thames towpath near his Oxfordshire home, he never imagined that there would be any threat to his life.

However, it was at this tranquil spot, three miles from his home in the village of Eynsham, that Mr Harris, an account executive, nearly died.

Only the prompt actions of a walker and the speed of an air ambulance saved him after he was attacked by a cow.

"I am incredibly lucky to be alive," Mr Harris, 41, said yesterday.

He spent three days in intensive care with a ruptured lung and broken ribs, then six days on a trauma ward.

More than a month after the attack, he still has not been able to return to work. He suffers dizzy spells and has been seen by a neurologist.

"The doctors told me that when I got to the hospital I was probably only four minutes away from a fatal heart attack," Mr Harris said.

"After I bought my Honda Fireblade bike four years ago I thought my chances of ending up in hospital with severe injuries had increased 10-fold. The last think I expected was to be trampled by a cow while on a push-bike ride."

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in August when Mr Harris persuaded his daughter, Melissa, 13, and son Samuel, 14, out for the ride. As the children led the way, the group came across about 10 cows, believed to be a French breed, on the towpath. Mr Harris told his children to give them a wide berth as there were two calves.

"As I got close one of the calves got up and moved towards its mother," said Mr Harris. "I caught the cow's head in my peripheral vision as she hit me from behind and knocked me to the ground.

"I remember the cow trying to gore me, but luckily she had no horns. I shouted for help and shouted at the cow, but it was unrelenting.

"I tried to push the cow's head away, but kept having to move to a foetal position to try to protect myself. The cow then stepped on my ribs. The pain from that stopped me doing anything else to protect myself.

"I lay flat on my front thinking, 'This is it. If the cow continues I am dead. If it thinks I am dead and leaves me alone then I may survive.' "

Fortunately a walker, Leslie Spiro, 46, who was with his wife and two daughters, heard Mr Harris's shouts. He took off his rucksack and used it to force the cows away.

Then Mr Spiro, who runs a software company, picked up a branch and took guard to stop the glowering herd returning.

His wife Roz raised the alarm before putting Melissa and her own daughters on a passing boat so they could be taken to the lock and away from the cows.

"It was very traumatic for the children," Mr Harris recalled. "There was quite a bit of blood.

"I was concerned that they would get attacked. I don't think they would have survived being trodden on.

"I was having great difficulty breathing, and Samuel stayed with me. I asked him to ring the emergency services to get guidance on what I should do."

The air ambulance arrived in 15 minutes, and the paramedic told Mr Harris his right lung had been punctured and had collapsed.

"He needed to put a needle in my chest to help my breathing and he told me it was going to hurt. But it didn't in comparison to the pain I was already in."

Mr Harris was flown to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

"Looking back, I got close to the mother cow and she took offence," he said.

"I was lucky the family was nearby to get the cows away from me and call the emergency services. I was also lucky the helicopter was available and I can't thank the crew enough."

Mr Spiro, whose two daughters, aged nine and 12, watched from a distance, said: "I ran at the cow and thought it would go away, but it didn't and it moved slightly towards me. I slipped and then it went back to Paul. I thought I can't leave him or he will die.

"When I went a second time it backed off. Paul was in severe pain and I thought he was going to die."

Mr Harris said he had contacted his solicitor to see if there were any grounds for a personal injury claim for the trauma. "My advice is never to take things for granted in the country and always be aware. Cows are big animals and you are never going to stop them."

He said there had been no fencing to segregate the cows from the footpath. "I suppose one must question why cows with young calves were put into a field with a public right of way."

The farmer could not be contacted for comment.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said almost 1,000 people were injured in accidents involving cattle each year. "The injuries range from twisted ankles as people run away from charging bulls, to the occasional goring.

"If you are walking in the countryside, our advice is: check the field out before you go in; don't walk through a field containing cattle, especially calves; keep your dog on a short leash; and plan your escape route from any field with cattle in."